IMPORTANT! Panorama X b19 RECALL! Go back to b18

Though it has many important fixes, the b19 release appears to have some serious new problems. These problems are serious enough that I recommend that everyone go back to using the b18 release while these problems are investigated and addressed. I have removed b19 from the auto-update feed.

If you didn’t keep a copy of b18, you can use the Panorama>Check for Updates window to re-download it. Open this window, then choose Install>Download Panorama X 10.2 b18 (3744). When the download is finished, use Install>Install Panorama X 10.2 b18 (3744) to re-install the older version.


See the important update below, it may not be necessary to stop using b19. However, it is still not included in the auto-update feed.

b19 completely eliminated the daily crashes I was experiencing since Big Sur and also fixed the left/right cell highlighting which made Panorama X very reliable for what I’m using it for every day.

If these new serious problems in b19 only affect functionalities like the Team Server and Relational Database Features, maybe some of us can safely continue with b19.

What do you think?

Please advise.

b19 completely eliminated the daily crashes

I made some fundamental low-level code changes in b19 that resulted in the fewer crashes. However, based on reports that some users are sending in, I’m concerned that these low level code changes may have had side effects that I don’t yet understand. Some users are experiencing very strange problems. Obviously this is unexpected. Since at this time I don’t really have a good handle on the situation, it seemed prudent to issue this “recall”, something I’ve never done before in decades of development. It may be fine to continue using b19, but it felt to me that the situation required issuing this warning. I will provide updates as soon as I have further information.

I think I should give you some positive feedback about b19: Personally, I have not seen most of the reported issues. My daily routine with all my databases is working flawlessly.

While I confirm the issue with the blank areas in the Relational Workshop, I am very glad about the fixes you made (finally including the proper adjustment of the toolbar icons, too).

I also have not seen the problems. As long as we do not run into them, and there is no data loss my feeling it that there is no reason to go back.

Recalling a version should only be done if there is data loss. Otherwise, listing the problems that have appeared in the newer beta and recommending going back a version if they are going to affect you should be sufficient.

That is how beta testing should work.

Ok, I have some progress to report.

I agree, and I was very concerned that this might be the case. Actually not data loss but corrupted forms – I know many of you put in a LOT of work into forms and would rightfully be super upset if complex forms had to be rebuilt. Over the past few days there have been multiple reports of forms not updating properly, and that re-building the form fixed the problem, at least temporarily. Several databases were sent to me and I was able to duplicate the problem, and verify that when the text objects were deleted and re-created they started working. To me it appeared that the forms were very possibly getting corrupted, hence the alarm. Since I was unsure if your database forms were being corrupted by the minute, it seemed prudent to err on the side of caution.

The good news tonight is that I have determined that the problem is NOT due to corruption, at least not permanent corruption that is saved when the database is saved. If I reverse one of the code changes made in b19, the problem disappears and all is well, so there appears to be no risk of permanent damage to databases. So if you’re not encountering problems, I now believe it is safe to continue using b19.

There were several changes made in b19 to address crashes. These changes have apparently been spectacularly successful, yeah! Unfortunately, one of these changes is the one that caused this new problem of non-updating objects. So simply reversing the code change will increase the number of crashes again, allthough probably not by much – this particular crash was I think somewhat rare. But I’d definitely like to avoid putting a crash back in again!

I do now have an additional clue – it appears that the problem only occurs in limited situations, the most common being use of a Tab Panel object. (It’s not obvious because the buttons aren’t shown, but the Relational Workshop window does contain a Tab Panel object.) It appears that when switching tab panels Panorama sometimes gets wires crossed. In past versions, this could sometimes result in a crash. In the b19 version there is no crash, but objects stop working. Until tonight I had no idea that tab panels had this problem. Hopefully in the near future I can figure out how to fix the code so that it doesn’t crash and everything keeps working.

Note: I’m not 100% sure, but it appears that the problem may only occur if a form has text objects that are outside of the tab panel area. If all the text objects are inside the tab panel, the problem doesn’t occur. As it turns out, the databases sent to me with problems all had forms arranged this way, and so does the Relational Workshop.


Conclusion: If you use forms with tab panels, especially if there are text objects on the same form but outside the bounds of the tab panel, you should probably use b18 unless you can put up with text objects that may not update. The release of b20 will be expedited to provide a fix for this issue. If you don’t have forms with this configuration, continue using b19.

Update: After a bit of further investigation it appears that simply deleting objects could possibly trigger this problem. I haven’t actually seen this happen, but looking at the code this seems possible. Deleting any kind of object could possibly trigger the problem in other objects on the same form. In that case, closing and re-opening the form should restore proper operation.

The problem of Panorama X crashing upon deleting items from a form has been around as long as Panorama X has been out. I sent you my Addresses file which has done that with 10.1.

My team threatened mutiny if we moved back to b18 due to the frequency of crashes in b18. So we spent time today redesigning a few forms to not include display objects outside the tab panel but instead inside. b19 is running well, and we like it! If there is no easy fix for the tab panel conflict, we could live with radio buttons to change forms in lieu of changing tabs. In some ways, in my humble opinion, that could be easier to understand, design and build than the tab panel and its supporting hidden forms. Such a scheme might also avoid the garbled text issue that some have experienced. Thanks again for all the work and effort.

Please stay tuned. I hope to have a b20 release out shortly, perhaps by the end of the week.

I have uploaded an experimental version of b20. The automatic update check will not see this experimental version, but you can manually download and install it using this link:

panoramax://startupdatecheck?feed=xb20

Although the release notes for this version are short, the underlying changes to Panorama’s form display code are very extensive. The changes were not made in one or two spots, but spread out over dozens of files. Not a lot of lines of code changes, but a few lines here and there in nearly 100 locations in the code. When making changes that extensive sometimes there will be an unnoticed side effect elsewhere, so for the last 3 days I have been mostly testing, not coding. And I’ve found (and fix) a few new minor bugs that were caused by these changes. Though I’ve been trying to poke into every corner of the program, it’s possible that there may be more minor new problems that I haven’t caught yet, which is the reason why this release is experimental and does not automatic update.

That said, this release does have some significant fixes, and I think will have even less crashing than the b19 release, which was already a big improvement in that regard. For example, I think I may have solved the problem of occasional crashes when deleting objects from a form (can’t say for sure since I could never duplicate this issue on command), and the problem that caused “phantom” objects in some situations (for example with tab panels) is fixed.

News flash – after uploading this b20 release, I downloaded it to some other computers and discovered another new minor problem – only the first page of a multi-page report prints correctly. After page one Panorama overprints on the second and subsequent pages. So if you need to print multi-page reports, do not install this version yet. News flash 2 – This multi-page report problem has been fixed. I don’t think anyone actually read this post in the first 20 minutes, but if you did, please use the link above to download again and get the 3786 bundle with the fix to the report feature.

Great. No problem with multi-page reports in build 3783. Thank you!